India, UAE and Africa here I come!

Hong Kong Part Deux

Thursday -

The plan for day 2 was simple; rest.  The plan was nice on paper, but unfortunately for me it wasn’t the case.  I woke up at 847AM scratching like effing crazy.  My so-called “rash,” had come back in full force, and I knew something was wrong.  I immediately popped out of bed, picked up my cell phone and called back the doctor’s office from the day before.  I told them I needed to see someone asap, and as it turns out someone had just cancelled and they had a 930AM appointment.  I quickly got dressed, grabbed a few things and ran out the door, down the elevator and to Causeway Bay station as fast as I could.  This was the end of rush hour but still very crowded so I knew getting to Central in 20 minutes would be a little tough.  I would have to work my way through hundreds of people, weaving a basket as I made sharp cuts through a pack of wild animals trying feverishly to get to work.

I arrived at the doctor’s office after working my map with a few minutes to spare.  I was seen in a jiff, but again by the same stupid doctor/nurse/ordinary girl.  I mean the day before the girl had gone on the World Health Organization’s website to try and figure out which vaccinations and stuff I should take and what medicine to give me.  I mean I could have paid myself 80 bucks to do the same thing, and just have asked her for what I wanted.  It seemed like after doing my own independent research on which tablet to take for malaria prevention I knew more than her.  I highly doubt she was any sort of doctor, and if she was, I am curious as to where she got her certifications (maybe K-Mart?).  This time I explained to her that this so-called “rash,” had come back after almost two weeks, dating back to the days of Singapore and Seoul, which seemed like forever ago, but in reality was only really about 2 weeks ago.

She said that I probably had scabies.  Yum.  Scabies is the technical term for the commonly used term of “bed bugs.”  Basically they are little mites under your skin that cause severe itching and allergic reactions, which is exactly what I had.  She prescribed for me an antihistamine for during the day to stop the itching, one at night and a heartburn medication which often helps with such reactions.  She also said that I would have to go buy some cream to put all over my body and leave on for up to 24 hours, which should hopefully kill off all the mites.  Basically from what I gathered the cream attracts the mites or kills them similar to bug spray.  They will die when trying to eat my skin because of the chemicals in the cream.  I went to the pharmacist for the second time in as many days, picked up the drugs and then paid the bill yet again.  This time it would be 1016 HKD, extra hondo for the injection of antihistamine I demanded which works like a charm.  Nothing like straight up antihistamine right in to the blood stream.  It makes you feel really loopy, but works like a charm.

After getting the shot, paying the bill, and getting my medicine, I still had to find the cream to slap all over my body (great visual I know).  I went to several pharmacies in the Central district, but none had them.  I was starting to get real pissed that the doctor would prescribe something then tell me that their pharmacy didn’t have it, and then not being able to find it, I was not in a good mood.  I said “screw it, I’ll find it later,” and continued with my regularly scheduled programming.  I called Raymond to tell him what had happened, and told him that I would still be able to meet him for lunch at 1245 with all his new colleagues from work.  He said “OKKKAAAYYY,” which was a typical response from Raymond whenever I told him something over the phone.  This is where it started to get a little hectic and really deviate from my plan of “chilling out,” for day 2.  I decided the night before to post all my stuff home that I had bought in the first three weeks, including some extra clothing, i.e. sweatshirt and unnecessary items of clothing.  I first had to find the post office, which wasn’t the easiest thing considering I didn’t have internet access at the moment and really did not want to schlep all the way back to the hostel to figure it out.  The alternative was to rely on people for directions and help finding a post office.  I first went to the customer service station at Central and asked if there was a post office in Causeway bay, where I lived, he told me no, only Wan Chai.  I said OK where in Wan Chai?  He proceeded to respond by saying “Go to Wan Chai and ask them.”  I was like “thanks buddy.”  When I got to Wan Chai I repeated the process.  This time the dude was a little more responsive and told me that the post office was 100-200 meters down the street after making a left out of the station, simple enough, but unfortunately I had no idea what to look for.  I know your probably thinking “post office idiot,” point taken, but still normally there is a symbol or sign for a post office, but in Hong Kong it is usually just in the basement of a building or on a random floor, and it is not an entire building like in America or other parts of the world.  After walking for what seemed like 100 meters, I asked several people for directions, all responded by saying “keep walking straight you’ll see it,” until I got so close the guy at the hotel said it is right next door.  So I found the Wan Chai post office and asked how much to post 5, 10, and 15 kilograms (2.2 pounds per kilogram).  I decided that 10 kilos would be my goal, but it would come at a lofty price (441 HKD plus the cost of the box).  So now that I knew how much it would cost to post, I would now how to go back to my hostel, get all my stuff, and I try to find a closer post office, because there was no way I was going to carry 10 kilos of random stuff in random bags for that far and that long.

When I got back to the hostel I asked the guy at the desk who owned the hostel where the post office was.  He told me “very close,” I was like “can you write down the address in Chinese so I can take a cab.”  He was like “cab, just walk very close, look at map,” I was like “fair enough but I have seven bags worth of stuff, can’t carry.”  He laughed and said OK.  He handed me the paper with the address, I gathered up all my stuff, found a cab at the rather convenient taxi stand right in front of my building and got to the post office.

It is funny that no matter what country you are in postal workers are really angry people.  Guys and gals, it is not just in America.  Even in a rather friendly country/SAR like Hong Kong the postal workers can still go “postal.”  I first went to the wrong booth and the guy said to go to the window right next to his, but of course that was in a different line.  So I waited for like seven more minutes and told the guy I wanted to post all of this stuff in my hands to America.  He said “you have box?”  I was like “no, need box.”  He was like “how big?”  I was like “big enough for all this stuff.”  He then checked some chart which told him which box was acceptable for shipping by boat to America.  I had decided on shipping my stuff by boat which normally takes 6-8 weeks because it was cheaper, and I really wouldn’t need it for 6-8 weeks.  He handed me the box and said “you pay for box first, then pay for postage.”  I was like “I wanted to use credit card.”  He then goes “300 HKD minimum, pay for box first, then go get postage.”  I was like “no, let me pay together, so I can use my credit card, I will fill it right now and post it in five minutes.”  He goes again “OK, but pay for box first, then get postage.”  I started to get really frustrated that no matter what I said he would just say “OK, but pay for box first.”  Finally I started to raise my voice a bit and say “listen just give me the box, I will pay for it when I post in two minutes, come on, I just want to use my credit card and it will be like 460 HKD+ in total for the combination.  He finally gave in and said “ok, ok,” scribbled something down on my customs form and handed the box and the form to me.

I was like “score!”  I then put the box together which was 25-26 HKD and started to fill up the box.  After a few attempts to make it all fit nice and neat, I got it, and it all fit “like a glove.”  I taped up the box, waited on line to mail it and finally it was all done, the dude said 6-8 weeks, made me give a phone number because I didn’t have a return address, so if nobody is home to get it, I will basically lose all of my stuff, but that should be no problem.

Time was running out for me, I needed to go home change and meet Raymond back at Central at his building in like 35 minutes.  I jumped in a cab home, dropped off my stuff, changed and then got back on the subway three stops to Central.  Luckily Raymond had told me which exit to go to from Central station (it had exits A-J).  He told me D1 right and right, walk straight all the way.  I texted him back that I would be five minutes later, he said no problem.  When I got there, he was waiting for me, and it was off to lunch.

I was going to a traditional Chinese dim sum style lunch at some restaurant near his office.  His new colleagues were really nice, some were shy and didn’t want to exercise their English speaking skills, others were curious to chat and speak English which is always nice.  A stereotype I had observed is that Asian’s who know English are really hesitant to speak it even if they are quite good, cause they always think they are bad English speakers and will be embarrassed by who they try to speak English too.  I tried to spell them of their fear of speaking English, but in the end one girl Keimen really wasn’t budging and just translated through Raymond and others to me what she wanted to say.  Besides her just smiling and laughing at me which is the typical response for I don’t understand, or I do understand but I don’t want to respond in English, she would just speak Chinese to the others and I would get the translated version from them.  It was a little frustrating being with five non-english speakers and just me sitting there.  It often makes me nervous when I’m with Raymond and one other and they go off on this Chinese rant, I always think something is wrong or up, and because there is something up, they speak in Chinese.  I frequently will ask “is there something wrong?”  Usually they say “no, just talking,” but once and awhile something is up.

Lunch was spectacular.  Even though I couldn’t eat everything due to the amount of pork and shellfish Asian countries indulge in, what I did it was really good.  Dim sum is basically lots of little noshes and appetizers, but since they are so small, typically people will order lots of them, different varieties, meats, styles, flavors.  It was really good.  After lunch Raymond went back to work and I was off to Lantau Island and the newly constructed 360 cable car ride Lantau Island.  Lantau Island is just another one of the islands which makes up Hong Kong.  This island really has nothing but a tourist village, the big Buddha and the Po Lin Monestary.  I was going to see the big Buddha and get some good views from the cable car ride.  Since I was taking my time getting there, I ended up getting there really close to when the Buddha would be closed.  I got the first cable car ride over to the island, and started my journey.  The ride was really great.  It was a little hazy, but generally got great views of the forest, airport, skyline near cable car ride, mountains and etc.  The journey took about 35 minutes and when I arrived it was time to find my way to the big Buddha.  This place was small and no matter where you were in this newly constructed tourist village/trap, you could see the big Buddha.  I finally found the entrance and looked up.  It was like 200+ stairs to the big Buddha.  I hiked up my shorts, adjusted myself, got my camera on the right shoulder with perfect access for opening and closing my case and headed up the stairs.  Every 50 stairs or so I would take a few pictures, including ones with me in them (don’t worry mom).  The Buddha was really big, hence the name and really cool.  I have seen many, many, many Buddha statutes and shrines and what always amaze me are the eyes.  I know the eyes in Buddhism are important, like how the buddha’s eyes are, and when I get home and have more time I will have read up on it, because I find them really fascinating.  Sometimes they are wide open, virtually shut, to the left, to the right, and sometimes they just look really shady, like the Buddha is up to no good.

Anyway, after taking in the views, enjoying the warm, but fresh non polluted, outside the city air, I headed back down, snapped several photos and then had to figure out how to get home.  I only bought a one way cable car ride, and decided to take the bus back to Tsung Chung MRT station which would get me home.  I still had my unlimited rail pass, so I wanted to use it as much as I could and really get my monies worth.  The bus was the 23 and would take close to an hour.  Unfortunately for me you needed exact change which I of course didn’t.  I went to one of the shops to ask for change but got the typical response of “no change.”  I’m like really, what happens if someone buys something and needs change, you don’t give them change?  They didn’t like that response one bit, so I bought a bottle a water and they gave me change.  Of course when the bus came and was waiting for me the bottle of water cost 8 and I needed something for 7, but because I was in such a hurry, I failed to look down at the change and when I got to the bus I said I was one dollar short.  The collectors just looked at me with this huge blank stare like “you expect us to help you out, are you shitting me?”  I was really pissed at this point, the bus had left and I would have to wait like 15-20 minutes more.  I went back and was like I want to exchange this for something else.  They looked at the bottle, made sure I didn’t open it and then I was like how much for this, “8,” and this “8,” and this “8,” I was like, what the hell isn’t 8HKD?  I need something for 7 g-d dammit!!!”  She pulled out this teeny, tiny bottle of water and goes “this 7.”  I’m like I’ll take it, she handed me back a one dollar coin and I was on my way.  I just wanted to open hand man slap the woman for not giving me change in the first place.  I mean they have so much coin in this country it’s disgusting, couldn’t you just spare 5 dollars worth of coin that’s all I needed.  Anyway I drank the bottle of water in disgust, and waited for the next bus.  It arrived in like 15 minutes and I barely got a seat.  This bus is really cheap 16 HKD (1.95 USD), so many people take it because the sky cable is so expensive; this is the only means of transportation back to civilization.

The bus ride back was really cool.  Anytime you can spend time with locals in a local environment minus the subway it is really cool.  The journey took us up, down and around the mountains on these tight little roads, with people getting on and off at random points.  I was glued to the window trying to see anything and everything I could that was around us.  I noticed this really huge jail on the water, with nothing around them but forest and nothing.  At one of the stop there were cattle grazing in the street, I quickly ripped out my camera and took a few shots, score!  Overall the bus ride was a great choice, it was cheap, fun and really not that long.  I got back to Tsung Chung station and again had to rush back to meet Raymond for dinner and stuff.  This night we had planned to go to Victoria Peak, one of the highest points in Hong Kong with an incredible view of the entire skyline from a distance.  We met at IFC which is the tallest building in Hong Kong with a really nice mall in it.  Since Raymond was a little late, I was looking to shop a little.  I went to a few really nice stores and then found my way to Burberry.  I went in not really looking for anything, but ended up leaving with a really nice polo type shirt, with a design I had never seen before; price not to be disclosed.  After making my purchase I met Raymond and we were off to the peak.  We would take a cheap mini bus up the mountain as opposed to an expensive cable car ride.  I was all cable car rode out after the Genting Highlands in Malaysia and the one I had taken earlier in the day.  The peak was really nice.  At night there is nothing better.  Hong Kong skyline rivals no other skyline in the world.  They have two sides split by a river and it is just filled with huge skyscrapers all lit up with sponsors, and the names of the buildings.  Every night at 8pm they do an automatic light show for several minutes which is really cool as well.  After snapping a few photos again from different vantage points we got some food.

McDonalds it was.  Nothing fancy, nothing much was open and cheap up on the peak.  I said no problem, lets just do it, I was famished and just wanted to eat something.  After McDonalds we called it a night, we were both tired and truthfully I wasn’t down for spending 50-75 HKD a drink in Lan Kwai Fung.  Friday’s plan was basically similar to Thursday, chill out, walk around, meet some people at the hostel and meet Raymond at around 530PM as we had planned to go this really nice Chinese buffet place at a hotel with his new colleagues again.  They couldn’t get enough of this, what can I say?

Friday -

My flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong was rather early in 945 so like many times in the past on this trip I had to get up really early.  Instead of going to bed early and being fresh, I decided to stay up till about 2am chatting with the kids from Sweden and the girl from London, who was Indian, but had the fairest skin I have ever seen for an Indian (basically as white as me).  She did have really dark hair to compensate, but really did not look Indian.  Like I mentioned we had a great chat.  So I went to bed real late and woke up at 445am.  I had to make sure everything was in order and leave myself enough time to walk with my bags the 8 blocks to the train station.  What a pain that walk was with all my stuff.  I mean carrying about 55 pounds of stuff on your front and back 8 blocks in the morning heat was awful, but I made it with time to spare.  I hopped on the hibiya line to Ueno and from there had to make a nice long trek to another station called Ueno Keisei station.  The reason why I had to go outside to another station was because I was taking the Keisei Skyliner which was on another line not owned by either the JR company or the subway, hence having to go to another companies station.  That was probably the most annoying part of Japan, the fact that so many different companies owned different rail lines in the same damn city.  Too me it is foolish, but I’m sure those crazy Japanese have a reason for it.

So I got chugged all the way to the station and tried to buy a ticket.  I had planned out the money situation perfectly, leaving exactly enough money for the subway and a ticket to the airport, with a little change to spare (mostly 10 cent yen pieces, worth nothing), and that was it.  I am trying to go home with at least one coin or note from every country I go to, which would be 12 in total on this trip alone.  So I saved a few ten cent pieces, bought my ticket and made my way to the platform.  I was catching the first train to the airport; the 630am express that got in at roughly 726.  It was only 56 minutes total, and a great deal considering the JR line was 3000 yen and took longer.  This was 1940 yen plus 160 to get me to the station for the ride to the airport, not bad, considering how expensive Japan is.  I got to the airport with about 2.2 hours to spare before my flight.  Plenty of time to check in and get my aisle seat, hopefully.  I immediately got a push cart for my luggage and backpack, so I didn’t have to hold it standing in line for g-d knows how long(in most countries I have been too outside of the USA, the trolleys for luggage is free and not some ridiculous amount just to hold your luggage while you wait).  The line took the second longest to check in, the longest wait time I had was my first flight in JFK, of course, why would an American airline be efficient?

I picked up my luggage went through customs and then got my train ticket back to the hostel.  This time I bought the three day unlimited train pass with round trip service to the airport for 300 HKD.  Not bad considering I got 50 HKD back for returning the card, so it was really 250.  Roundtrip service to the airport is like 80 or 100 in itself, so definitely a good deal for a short-term tourist like myself.

I hoped onto the airport express, a familiar train, as I had been on it like 25 days earlier.  I confirmed the exit to get out from when I got to Causeway bay, my stop on the Island line.  I first had to transfer from the airport express station, walk about a quarter mile with all my stuff, get to Hong Kong Station which became Central station, then take the Island blue line to Causeway bay.  From Causeway Bay station I got out at exit E.  Now getting out at the correct exit is crucial.  Causeway Bay station has exits A-F, so getting out at the wrong one, leaves you in a place of the unknown.  I got out at E, walked the two blocks to the hostel, 47A Patterson Street, 3^rd Floor to Wan Fat Hostel.  I checked in, dropped my stuff off, changed my shirt, took off my sweatshirt, which were both dripping with sweat, since it was about 90 degrees here with a really high humidity.

The day before I arrived in Hong Kong I had booked an appointment to see a doctor who could prescribe Malaria tablets.  I needed these pills for when I was on my tour of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.  I got to the doctor around 415PM and was about 45 minutes early.  Lucky for me the doctor was available and saw me pretty much straight away.  She tried to convince me to get other vaccinations, which I told her I wasn’t interested in.  She gave me the cheap ones, with little to no side effects.  The major possible side effect was sun sensivitity, meaning you can get burned rather quickly.  I told her I was looking for a good tan, so this would be perfect for me!

After meeting with the doctor it was time to see Raymond.  He worked in Central, in the same area as my doctor.  Today he was taking stage II of a series of tests, which after completion of the III stages would enable him to become an official internal auditor.  Currently working for his new job, he was an internal auditor, but I guess unofficially.  With this new status in his back pocket he would have much more bargaining power for raises, as he would be able to go to another company rather easily and make more money there.

We met up at like 530PM in front of Marks and Spencer.  From there, we went to the Kowloon side via a really cool double decker bus.  The bus was like 9 bucks (1.50 USD), and I was able to see a lot of the city from the top of the decker bus.  Our first stop was the long awaited foot massage!  This time we were going to the same company just different location.  It was fabulous yet again.  The lady I had really knew had to work it.  They first soak your feet in a foot Jacuzzi, then take you to a really quiet, low lighted and peaceful area of the place.  From there they just massage your feet and legs for about 50 minutes.  It was awesome.  I really needed something to relax my feet, as I had been walking on them for several weeks now, for like 8 hours a day or more.

After the foot massage it was time to eat some food.  Raymond took me to this mall, where we ate at the food court.  It was not your garden variety food court.  This had great restaurants on like the 7th floor.  We decided to try some Thai food which was rather good.  We got a bunch of dishes and shared them all.  It hit the spot, and I was starving as I hadn’t really eaten much during the day.  From dinner, Raymond took me to Mong Kok, probably the busiest area of Hong Kong.  At anytime throughout the day or night there are thousands of people walking the streets chatting, and most importantly shopping.  In Mong Kok there is the famous Ladies Street market.  This market is about 4 street blocks, pedestrians only, and has everything you could possibly want to buy as a gift for back home.  I was on a mission for several things, but was open to really buying anything.  I ended up buying another set of chopsticks, a soccer jersey, a t-shirt of Hong Kong, and some other smaller things.

After Ladies Market, I told Raymond I wanted some cool electronics, mainly an external hard drive.  He knew exactly the right place, that only a local would know, without going to some stupid shiny, flashy touristy electronics store and get ripped off.  I ended up buying a 120 gig external hard drive 2.5 inches think and about the size of two motorola razor phones.  It was sweet.  The dudes at this little shop formatted it for me and everything.

Since Raymond and I had both gotten up extremely early, me to fly here, and him because he had to take his test which went from 8am till 5PM, we decided to call it an early night.  I went back to the hostel, unpacked some stuff, read a little of my book, and passed out after taking some Ambien (thanks mom).

I also wanted to mention that the doctor cost me about 840 HKD (106 bucks).  The train ticket cost me like 300 HKD and the hostel, which I paid in cash for, with deposit was 659 HKD.  So after my first half day in Hong Kong I had laid out quite a bit of money and was not happy about it.  More was too be laid out in the coming days.

Right now I am a few days behind, I haven’t had much time to update the blog, but since I had internet for free at this hostel I will try doing it tonight.

Thanks,

Josh

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